KLANG, July 26 — PKR’s Zawawi Ahmad Mughni today refuted claims that Malay rights are being neglected under the administration of Pakatan’s state government.

The candidate for Sg Kandis state seat said the Selangor government has continuously strived to assist Bumiputeras through its various initiatives for the past 10 years.

These, he said, include a project called Inisiatif Peduli Rakyat (IPR) where 43 of its programmes are meant to mostly benefit the Malays.

"Small and medium industries development programmes under the state government has helped over 46,000 entrepreneurs — 95 per cent of which are Malays.

"Selangor has also allocated RM8.54 million to help paddy farmers and another RM7.1 million for training programmes involving fishermen and breeders. They are mostly Malays,” he said at a press conference at Bilik Gerakan PKR here.

Zawawi also said that the assistance is also extended to urban folks by allocating RM8.7 million to pay off the outstanding rentals of the residents at the people’s housing projects.

He added the government had to fork out some RM320 million to make up for the lesser rate of assessment tax among Malays in the lower income group.

The tahfiz teacher said the programmes, among others, are proof that Malays have always been cared for under the Pakatan administration.

"So, the Umno candidate cannot act as a saviour by championing the rights of Malays, especially in Selangor.

"He should stop making baseless accusations about Pakatan when it is clear that Malay voters have rejected its party,” he said, referring to his contender in the August 4 by-election Datuk Lokman Noor Adam. Lokman, who is also the leader of Pemantau Malaysia Baru, had last week alleged that the Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is powerless to uphold such rights despite being a Malay Muslim as his Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia only holds 13 parliamentary seats.

He went on to say that the DAP is controlling Dr Mahathir in its attempt to turn Christianity into the nation’s official religion. Zawawi said the declining support received by Barisan over the previous three general elections is a tell-tale sign that they are no longer wanted by the people.

"In 2008, we can see that Umno only won 18 out of 56 state seats. Five years later, the situation worsened when they only scored 12 seats.

"GE14 is the worst of them all. Umno only won 4 state seats. We can’t refute history. Umno is as good as gone after being repeatedly rejected by the voters,” he said.

Next week, Zawawi is set to face Lokman in a straight fight, with PAS sitting out the by-election as a show of support for Umno.